Schutzenfest 2009: Great Success! (on a small scale)

As I mentioned before, it is indeed like herding cats trying to get liberty-minded individuals to do something all together. Over half the people who said they would be there, were not. We had 2 out due to surgery, 2 due to illness, 3 out because of Austin traffic, 1 because of a little league game, 1 for family obligations, 2 because it was "too far", 3 from staying out late Friday night, and 1 for unknown reasons. So, all told, there was a grand total turnout of only 5 shooters.

Hold on there.

How does 25% turnout qualify as a Great Success?

Because the venue was perfectly suited to a low number of shooters who required individual instruction

Because 1 woman is now less gun-shy than she was before. (New Shooter #1)

Because 1 woman had the look that all shooting instructors love to see: a big grin with a hint of sheepishness at having fun doing something previously taboo. (New Shooter #2)

Because 1 militiaman went from ignorance of arms in general, to hands-on familiar and comfortable with a half-dozen small arms platforms. Also, this citizen and house holder has a lot of information now, to consider in his deliberations about what type of gun to purchase to defend himself, his wife, her daughter, and their property.

Because I got to see my Buddy K.S.

Because I got in some quality Recoil Therapy.

Lessons learned for next time:

Don't forget to take allergy medications before driving an hour from home to spend the day outside!

Long sleeves and a broad-brimmed hat do not cover your hands, ears, or neck adequately to prevent sunburn. Use sunscreen.

Don't expect people to show, even if they said they would, on the phone, that same day.

Encourage new shooter participation. It is fun, watching them having fun.

Post fresh targets between new shooters' turns shooting, and a fresh backstop if you can, to help them see their bullet holes

String the cans up immediately so they will dance for everyone, not just those who stay late

Have drinks available AT THE FIRING LINE so nobody gets dehydrated

Shooting is fun. Especially shooting while advancing on reactive targets.

The New Shooters' Class was set for 11:00. My Darling Wife decided at the last minute to go with me, and her back was sore, so she held us up and we arrived at 11:35. The other participants were already there and acquainted with our hostess.

After introductions and small talk, we went right into the lecture. The night before, I had prepared some posters to help illustrate my points on: The Four Rules, Gun handling safety & shooting postures, Aiming, Eye dominance, weapons operation, and explanation of what caliber nomenclatures mean / relative cartridge power. We also had a show & tell and the ladies were impressed with the small/light nature of the Kel-Tek P-3AT. Then it was 13:00 and lunchtime. We had a brief lecture on range rules and safety and were off.

First up was C., who had shot BB guns as a girl. She started on the nice, simple .38 special revolver and did quite well, landing fully half her hits in the X ring from 5 yards

Then Y.S. went. She was not much into shooting but she gave it a go. She put 8 rounds downrange, with a couple of demonstration shots from K.S. in the middle of her shooting session. She put a couple shots out with bad form and missed badly, but she took criticism well and was doing quite well on the last few shots, so we reloaded for her and she did well on the last couple of shots.

J.F. was up next and he did alright, with posture that showed he was paying attention during class earlier.

Next, C. wanted to try the P-3AT. I had warned her that it kicks more than the .38. She said it was pushing her all over the place, but she kept it to center-of-Goblin sized groups and was not turned off by the recoil. She is a pretty short woman, so the Kel-Tek fit her hand well, which always helps when a gun is trying to get itself out of your hands. Y.S. didn't care for the Kel-Tek much at all after shooting it. Then C. had a few shots with the Marlin 60.

I had K.S. shoot the SKS because I knew he would enjoy it (he did) and then we found out to our dissatisfaction that neither an SKS or a .40S&W will make an empty 3lbs. coffe can dance on the ground (the bullets just punch straight through) unless you hit right on the rim. About that time, K.S., Y.S. and C. had to leave to run errands, but we lit a few .30-06 rounds off from my P17 first. We all went up to the house and had some water, invited the departing shooters to our church and they split.

J.F. and I went back down to the range alone, just us two blokes. It took some goading and shooting, but I finally convinced him not to be concerned with conserving ammunition just because it's expensive. He had brought .22LR, .30-06 and 7.62x39 and eventually got a sampling of what it's like to shoot all those and more besides. I introduced him to field marksmanship positions, and he and I went through a dry run on a "cold" range to practice advancing on a target. I discussed the psychology of retreat, advancing on an assailant, and the difficulties of finding effective cover. We put the range to "hot" and he ran a few slow J-hooks advancing on coffee cans that were, by this time, strung up in front of the backstop so they would dance when hit. He had the new-shooter grin on his face now, like C. had earlier. We ran through something like 100 rounds, mostly 5 at a time, advancing, moving laterally, and discussing firefighting theory & strategy. The SKS & Glock 22 were the main guns used in these exercises.

I was reminded that even my modified SKS sight is hard to hit with while moving and shooting simultaneously. J.F. generally was "close-enough" to his target but it was amusing when, one time, he shot completely over the backstop and I saw the puff of dirt 'way downrange behind the backstop. Then we went through most of a box of .22LR with the Marlin and FINALLY got a gratifying response from the cans. The 22 is slow enough to differentiate between the gun's report and the PLONK when the cans are struk. They danced when hit by the SKS but that was pretty quiet.

By now it was 17:00 and we were tired and dehydrated, so we picked up the brass and found several spent bullets. In related news, it still hasn't stopped being neat-o to recover bullets I have shot. We packed everything up and went to the house to eat and drink and converse for a while, and finally left around 18:00.

I was a little surprised at myself. I brought a camera from work to take good pictures and forgot it at the house. So all you get to see is the remnants: Behold the Ammo Box!



I'll take the time right now to repeat my standing offer: if you have never fired a gun before, or if you are scared of guns, or if it has been a long time since you shot a gun, email me at the address on the bottom of this page. Tooting my own horn a bit, J.F. says I am "an excellent teacher." There is no need to be intimidated by guns. If you want to pay range fees (I can supply guns and ammunition) there is an air condidioned range in Pflugerville, Texas that we can visit, and if you want to drive, we can go to an outdoor range in Lockhart with no rules besides "don't shoot the cows."